by Adam McCombs

If you look through newspaper archives for Masters of the Universe advertising, you see a steady evolution of the size and sophistication of posted ads. In the first year of the line, most of the ads took up little space on the page and relied mainly on cross sell, license kit, and line art. Later ads would include more photos and take up much more print area.

In Part 1, I posted every unique ad I could find from May (the earliest month for which I could find ads) until the end of September 1982. In Part 2 I showed ads from October and part of November. In this final installment I’ll be showing ads finishing out the rest of 1982. There’s also a bonus MOTU-related Christmas article at the end of the series. Enjoy!

Iowa City Press Citizen, November 17, 1982:

Kenosha New, November 17, 1982:

Daily News, November 18, 1982:

Herald and Review, November 18, 1982:

The Sacramento Bee, November 18, 1982:

Daily News, November 19, 1982:

Daily News, November 21, 1982:

Hattiesburg American, November 21, 1982:

Herald and Review, November 21, 1982:

Stevens Point Journal, November 24, 1982:

The Daily Oklahoman, November 24, 1982:

Santa Maria Times, November 25, 1982:

St. Joseph News Press Gazette. November 25, 1982:

The Boston Globe, November 25, 1982:

The Daily Herald, November 25, 1982:

Sunday News, November 28, 1982:

Daily News, December 2, 1982:

The Evening Sun, December 3, 1982:

The Morning Call, December 3, 1982:

Tucson Citizen, December 3, 1982:

The Miami Herald, December 4, 1982:

Dayton Daily News, December 5, 1982:

Albuquerque Journal, December 8, 1982:

Star Tribune, December 8, 1982:

The Capital Times, December 8, 1982:

The Dispatch, December 8, 1982:

Daily News, December 9, 1982:

Intelligencer Journal, December 9, 1982:

The Morning Call, December 9, 1982:

Wisconsin State Journal, December 9, 1982:

Tallahassee Democrat, December 12, 1982:

The Daily Advertiser, December 16, 1982:

The Arizona Republic, December 22, 1982:

Bonus:

This feature in the December 4th issue of The New Mexican talks about the hottest selling toys of 1982 Christmas season. The back of the first edition Castle Grayskull box is shown prominently:

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by Adam McCombs

If you look through newspaper archives for Masters of the Universe advertising, you see a steady evolution of the size and sophistication of posted ads. In the first year of the line, most of the ads took up little space on the page and relied mainly on cross sell, license kit, and line art. Later ads would include more photos and take up much more space.

In Part 1, I posted every unique ad I could find from May (the earliest month for which I could find ads) until the end of September 1982. In Part 2 I am showing ads from October and part of November. The volume of ads picked up some steam the last two months of the year, so I will have to do this series in three parts, rather than two, as I had planned.

Citizen’s Voice, October 2, 1982:

The Charlotte Observer, October 3, 1982:

Fort Worth Star Telegram, October 10, 1982:

Public Opinion, October 14, 1982:

Chicago Tribune, Oct 15, 1982:

Lansing State Journal, October 17, 1982:

The Sacramento Bee, October 20, 1982:

The Daily Oklahoman, October 21, 1982:

Albuquerque Journal, October 24, 1982:

The Miami Herald, October 24, 1982:

The Times, October 24, 1982:

The Sheboygan Press, October 29, 1982:

Times Advocate, October 31, 1982:

El Paso Times, November 1, 1982:

The Morning Call, November 2, 1982:

Austin American Statesman, November 3, 1982:

The Ottawa Citizen. November 3, 1982:

Alabama Journal, November 4, 1982:

Daily News, November 4, 1982:

The Journal Herald, November 4, 1982:

The Montgomery Advertiser, November 5, 1982:

Fort Lauderdale News, November 7, 1982:

The Akron Beacon Journal, November 7, 1982:

The Miami Herald, November 7, 1982:

The Orlando Sentinel, November 7, 1982:

The Spokesman Review, November 8, 1982:

The Ottawa Citizen, November 9, 1982:

Iowa City Press Citizen, November 10, 1982:

The Morning Call, October 10, 1982:

Longview News Journal, November 11, 1982:

The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 13, 1982:

Abbeville Meridional, November 14, 1982:

St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 14, 1982:

Sunday News, November 14 1982:

The Marion Star, November 14, 1982:

Victoria Advocate, November 14, 1982:

Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!

by Adam McCombs

If you look through newspaper archives for Masters of the Universe advertising, you see a steady evolution of the size and sophistication of posted ads. In the first year of the line, most of the ads took up little space on the page and relied mainly on cross sell, license kit, and line art. Later ads would include more photos and take up much more space.

In this post I’d like to show a sample of the 1982 ads I could find. In Part 1, I’ll show every unique ad I could find from May (the earliest month for which I could find ads) until the end of September 1982. In Part 2 I’ll finish off the year with October through December ads. I hope you enjoy!

Daily News, May 13, 1982:

Daily News, June 9, 1982:

Daily News, June 13, 1982 (note the prototype Teela figure):

The Central New Jersey Home News, June 18, 1982:

The Chico Enterprise Record, June 23, 1982:

The San Francisco Examiner, July 7, 1982:

The Daily Breeze, July 11 1982:

Reno Gazette Journal, July 21, 1982:

Herald and Review, July 21, 1982:

Courier Post, July 22, 1982:

Standard Speaker, July 26, 1982:

The News Journal, July 29, 1982:

Citizens Voice, August 3, 1982:

Standard Speaker, August 5, 1982:

Star Tribune, August 12, 1982:

St. Cloud Times, August 16, 1982:

The Herald Palladium, August 16, 1982:

Lansing State Journal, August 16, 1982:

The Daily Register, August 17, 1982:

Fort Worth Star Telegram: August 26, 1982:

Chicago Tribune, August 26, 1982

The Morning Call, August 27, 1982:

The Spokesman Review, August 30, 1982:

Chicago Tribune, September 5, 1982:

The Orlando Sentinel, September 8, 1982:

The Charlotte Observer, September 12, 1982:

Asbury Park Press, September 19, 1982:

The Daily Journal, September 23, 1982:

The Daily Item, September 30, 1982:

Want to support the blog? Consider becoming a Patreon supporter. You’ll also gain access to exclusive content and early access to posts on the blog. Thank you!